2023–24 Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey season was the 18th season of play for the program and the 12th in Atlantic Hockey. The Colonials represented Robert Morris University, played their home games at the Clearview Arena and were coached by Derek Schooley in his 18th season.

2023–24 Robert Morris Colonials
men's ice hockey season
Conference11th Atlantic Hockey
Home iceClearview Arena
Rankings
USCHO.comNR
USA HockeyNR
Record
Overall11–25–3
Conference7–17–2
Home5–12–1
Road6–13–2
Coaches and captains
Head coachDerek Schooley
Assistant coachesMatt Nicholson
Ryan Durocher
Captain(s)Rylee St. Onge
Alternate captain(s)
  • Mitch Andres
  • Gavin Gulash
  • Cameron Hebert
  • Luke Johnson
  • Dallas Tulik
Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey seasons
« 2020–21 2024–25 »

Season

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With the team returning to the ice for the first time in over two years, the team accomplished its primary objective for the year simply by existing.[1] There were few, if any, expectations for the team that still had to learn how to work together. Predictably, both the offense and defense were weak but neither were embarrassingly so; the Colonials averaged more than 2 goals per game despite suffering through a terrible stretch in the middle of the season. The team's porous defense surrendered an average of almost 40 shots per game and Robert Morris was routinely outshot throughout the season. While starter Chad Veltri faced an daunting task in most games, he did give the Colonials a chance to win on most nights. The Niagara transfer stopped well more than 90% of the shots he faced and led the nation in saves per game.[2]

As the season progressed, Robert Morris was consistently ranked among the worst teams, but that didn't stop the Colonials from producing a few highlights. The shutout of Bowling Green in just their second game back was a welcome relief for the fans who hadn't seen the program win since 2021. While their road trip to Minneapolis resulted in two losses, RMU's defense stood strong against the highly-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers. The best moment of the year, however, was probably the team's first playoff game. The RMU power play scored twice to give the team a 2-goal lead over Bentley entering the third period. While Robert Morris was unable to hold the lead, they still had a chance to win in overtime. Just before the end of the extra session, Cameron Garvey intercepted a pass behind the Falcons' cage and wrapped the puck around to score the winning goal.[3] The team was unable to parlay their upset victory into any further success, but that did not detract from their successful return.

Off of the ice, the team had two very positive developments over the course of the year. The first was a deal struck with SportsNet Pittsburgh to broadcast select games for both the men's and women's teams.[4] Not only would this increase the visibility of the program, but the additional funds would help to stability the program. Towards the end of the season, the university announced plans for a new $28 million arena and were seeking to have some of the cost offset by the state.[5] While estimates put the completion for the project approximately three years away, the plans themselves demonstrated that the school was now expecting to keep its ice hockey team around for the foreseeable future.

Departures

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Note: All departures occurred after the 2020–21 season.

Player Position Nationality Cause
Justin Addamo Forward   France Transferred to Rensselaer
Garrett Clegg Forward   United States Transferred to Oswego State
Reid Cooper Goaltender   Canada Transferred to Curry
Matt Guerra Forward   United States Transferred to Holy Cross
Santeri Hartikainen Forward   Finland Transferred to American International
Kyler Head Forward   United States Transferred to Mercyhurst
Grant Hebert Forward   Canada Transferred to Maine
Randy Hernández Forward   United States Transferred to Canisius
Nick Jenny Defenseman   United States Graduation (retired)
Roman Kraemer Forward   United States Left program (retired)
Brian Kramer Defenseman   United States Transferred to American International
David Lafrance Defenseman   Canada Returned to juniors (Halifax Mooseheads)
Nick Lalonde Forward   Canada Left program (retired)
Geoffrey Lawson Forward   Canada Left program (retired)
Tyler Love Defenseman   United States Transferred to Wisconsin–Eau Claire
Dyllan Lubbesmeyer Goaltender   United States Graduation (retired)
Brendon Michaelian Defenseman   United States Transferred to Ferris State
Nick Prkusic Forward   United States Graduation (retired)
Nolan Schaeffer Forward   United States Left program (retired)
Aidan Spellacy Forward   United States Transferred to St. Cloud State
Bradley Stonnell Defenseman   United States Transferred to Wisconsin–Superior
Jordan Timmons Forward   United States Transferred to Long Island
Darcy Walsh Forward   Canada Left program (retired)
Quinn Warmuth Defenseman   United States Transferred to Oswego State
Noah West Goaltender   United States Transferred to Michigan

Recruiting

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Due to the team being dormant for two years, the vast majority of the roster is made up of players new to the program. The Colonials have only three returning players: Gavin Gulash, Cameron Hebert and Matt Hutton

Roster

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As of September 15, 2023.[6]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2   Michael Craig Freshman D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 2002-08-26 St. Catharines, Ontario Nanaimo (BCHL)
3   Mitch Andres (A) Graduate D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1998-09-02 Brainerd, Minnesota Boston College (HEA)
4   Matthew Boczar Freshman (RS) F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-05-13 Sewell, New Jersey Northeast (NAHL)
5   Luke van Why Freshman D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 163 lb (74 kg) 2003-01-21 Hatfield, Pennsylvania Maryland (NAHL)
6   Cade Townend Senior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1999-06-17 Carleton Place, Ontario Mercyhurst (AHA)
7   Tom Gangl Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 2002-01-08 Wingham, Ontario Smiths Falls (CCHL)
8   Gabriel Lunn Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2003-08-25 Lockport, New York Johnstown (NAHL)
9   Dallas Tulik (A) Graduate F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 1998-06-23 Kalamazoo, Michigan Ferris State (CCHA)
10   Paul Maust Graduate F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1998-06-24 Butler, Pennsylvania Mercyhurst (AHA)
11   Cameron Hebert (A) Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-03-17 St. Andrews West, Ontario Johnstown (NAHL)
12   Jackson Reineke Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 2002-10-03 Faribault, Minnesota Anchorage (USHL)
15   Charles Merkley Freshman (RS) F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2002-10-03 Fairport, New York Corpus Christi (NAHL)
16   George Krotiris Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2002-08-08 Markham, Ontario Cobourg (OJHL)
17   Matt Hutton Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-04-01 Carmel, Indiana Shreveport (NAHL)
18   Gavin Gulash (A) Junior (RS) F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-01-11 Red Bank, New Jersey New Jersey (NAHL)
19   Tanner Klimpke Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 2002-12-13 Calgary, Alberta Whitecourt (AJHL)
20   McKay Hayes Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2002-01-27 Ancaster, Ontario Markham (OJHL)
21   Cameron Garvey Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 2002-12-13 Oakville, Ontario Collingwood (OJHL)
22   Dominic Schimizzi Freshman (RS) F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2001-03-12 Greensburg, Pennsylvania Aberdeen (NAHL)
23   Luke Johnson (A) Graduate D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 173 lb (78 kg) 1999-01-07 Edina, Minnesota Providence (HEA)
24   Walter Zacher Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 2002-04-02 Buffalo, New York Austin (NAHL)
25   Trevor LeDonne Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2000-02-27 Stoney Creek, Ontario St. Thomas (CCHA)
27   Rylee St. Onge (C) Graduate F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1998-04-22 St. Catharines, Ontario Mercyhurst (AHA)
28   Logan Ganie Graduate F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-06-28 Irma, Alberta Michigan Tech (CCHA)
30   Chad Veltri Graduate G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1998-06-03 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Niagara (AHA)
31   Francis Boisvert Graduate G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-03-11 Blainville, Quebec St. Lawrence (ECAC)
33   Lee Chiang Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2002-12-07 Toronto, Ontario Markham (OJHL)
35   Michael Sochan Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 179 lb (81 kg) 2002-07-21 Redwood City, California Surrey (BCHL)
44   Thomas Haynes Freshman F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-02-06 Mississauga, Ontario Smiths Falls (CCHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OW OL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#17 RIT †* 26 18 7 1 3 2 0 54 102 64 40 27 11 2 156 96
Holy Cross 26 13 10 3 0 3 1 46 78 62 39 21 14 4 116 93
Sacred Heart 26 14 10 2 2 2 1 45 75 70 36 14 19 3 91 113
Air Force 26 15 10 1 3 0 1 44 88 75 38 18 19 1 115 119
American International 26 12 10 4 1 1 2 42 79 68 40 20 16 4 119 111
Bentley 26 12 12 2 1 2 2 41 69 58 35 16 17 2 95 82
Niagara 26 13 10 3 3 1 1 41 78 79 39 18 18 3 111 122
Canisius 26 10 12 4 2 1 0 33 73 87 37 12 21 4 103 126
Mercyhurst 26 7 15 4 0 1 4 30 77 91 35 9 22 4 98 126
Army 26 8 16 2 0 1 1 28 66 96 35 10 23 2 93 139
Robert Morris 26 7 17 2 0 1 1 25 60 95 39 11 25 3 94 142
Championship: March 23, 2024
† indicates conference regular season champion (DeGregorio Trophy)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 7 7:05 pm Bowling Green* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri L 0–3  1,225 0–1–0
October 8 5:07 pm at Bowling Green* Slater Family Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio FloHockey Veltri W 3–0  1,345 1–1–0
October 14 4:00 pm at Mercyhurst Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri T 3–3 SOL 582 1–1–1 (0–0–1)
October 20 7:00 pm Holy Cross Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri L 1–3  807 1–2–1 (0–1–1)
October 21 5:00 pm Holy Cross Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri T 3–3 SOW 604 1–2–2 (0–1–2)
October 27 7:00 pm Bentley Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri W 4–3  643 2–2–2 (1–1–2)
October 28 4:00 pm Bentley Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri L 0–3  619 2–3–2 (1–2–2)
November 4 7:00 pm Simon Fraser* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania (Exhibition) FloHockey Boisvert W 3–1 
November 10 11:00 pm at Alaska Anchorage* Avis Alaska Sports ComplexAnchorage, Alaska   Boisvert L 2–3  700 2–4–2
November 11 10:00 pm at Alaska Anchorage* Avis Alaska Sports ComplexAnchorage, Alaska   Veltri T 2–2 OT 506 2–4–3
November 17 7:00 pm at Niagara Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York FloHockey Veltri L 2–6  1,066 2–5–3 (1–3–2)
November 18 7:00 pm Niagara Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri L 1–4  667 2–6–3 (1–4–2)
November 21 7:00 pm at Canisius LECOM HarborcenterBuffalo, New York FloHockey Veltri L 1–5  790 2–7–3 (1–5–2)
November 24 6:00 pm Sacred Heart Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri L 2–4  623 2–8–3 (1–6–2)
November 25 1:00 pm Sacred Heart Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey, SNY Veltri L 1–3  566 2–9–3 (1–7–2)
December 1 7:00 pm at #19 RIT Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York FloHockey, SNP Veltri L 1–4  2,896 2–10–3 (1–8–2)
December 2 6:00 pm at #19 RIT Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York FloHockey Veltri L 2–6  2,650 2–11–3 (1–9–2)
December 7 7:00 pm Niagara Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey, SNP Veltri W 4–1  514 3–11–3 (2–9–2)
December 9 7:00 pm at Niagara Dwyer ArenaLewiston, New York FloHockey Veltri W 3–1  693 4–11–3 (3–9–2)
December 16 7:00 pm #13 Arizona State* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri L 1–4  863 4–12–3
December 17 5:00 pm #13 Arizona State* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey, SNP Veltri L 3–8  732 4–13–3
January 5 7:00 pm Stonehill* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri W 8–1  606 5–13–3
January 6 5:00 pm Stonehill* Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri W 7–3  658 6–13–3
January 12 8:00 pm at #12 Minnesota* 3M Arena at MariucciMinneapolis, Minnesota Fox 9+, BTN+ Boisvert L 2–4  8,449 6–14–3
January 13 6:00 pm at #12 Minnesota* 3M Arena at MariucciMinneapolis, Minnesota Fox 9+, BTN+ Veltri L 1–4  9,475 6–15–3
January 19 7:00 pm #20 RIT Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey, SNP Veltri L 3–6  592 6–16–3 (3–10–2)
January 20 7:00 pm #20 RIT Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Veltri L 1–7  805 6–17–3 (3–11–2)
January 26 1:00 pm at American International MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts FloHockey Boisvert W 2–0  7–17–3 (4–11–2)
January 27 1:00 pm at American International MassMutual CenterSpringfield, Massachusetts FloHockey Veltri L 2–5  256 7–18–3 (4–12–2)
February 2 7:00 pm at Mercyhurst Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania FloHockey Boisvert W 5–2  1,042 8–18–3 (5–12–2)
February 3 7:00 pm Mercyhurst Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Boisvert W 4–3  759 9–18–3 (6–12–2)
February 9 7:00 pm at Army Tate RinkWest Point, New York FloHockey Veltri L 1–3  1,708 9–19–3 (6–13–2)
February 10 6:00 pm at Army Tate RinkWest Point, New York FloHockey Veltri W 4–3  1,734 10–19–3 (7–13–2)
February 16 7:00 pm Canisius Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey Boisvert L 3–5  619 10–20–3 (7–14–2)
February 17 5:00 pm Canisius Clearview ArenaNeville Township, Pennsylvania FloHockey, SNP Veltri L 4–5 OT 1,008 10–21–3 (7–15–2)
February 23 9:00 pm at Air Force Cadet Ice ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado FloHockey Veltri L 2–5  2,670 10–22–3 (7–16–2)
February 24 7:00 pm at Air Force Cadet Ice ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado FloHockey Boisvert L 1–2  2,698 10–23–3 (7–17–2)
Atlantic Hockey Tournament
March 2 7:00 pm at Bentley* Bentley ArenaWaltham, Massachusetts (First Round) FloHockey Veltri W 4–3 OT 1,678 11–23–3
March 8 7:05 pm at #19 RIT* Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York (Quarterfinal Game 1) FloHockey Veltri L 0–7  2,988 11–24–3
March 9 7:05 pm at #19 RIT* Gene Polisseni CenterHenrietta, New York (Quarterfinal Game 2) FloHockey Veltri L 1–5  3,248 11–25–3
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[7]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Tanner Klimpke F 37 15 11 26 14
Dallas Tulik F 37 6 17 23 24
Walter Zacher C 33 5 17 22 22
Jackson Reineke F 37 9 12 21 43
Rylee St. Onge LW 38 11 9 20 45
Logan Ganie LW 35 6 9 15 6
Cameron Garvey C 37 11 3 14 19
McKay Hayes C 38 6 8 14 35
Cade Townend D 38 4 10 14 26
Luke Johnson D 39 2 11 13 10
George Krotiris W 36 6 6 12 19
Michael Craig D 39 0 10 10 8
Gavin Gulash F 38 2 7 9 35
Paul Maust LW 36 3 4 7 41
Cameron Hebert RW 33 2 5 7 20
Gabriel Lunn D 29 1 5 6 18
Luke van Why D 18 2 2 4 8
Mitch Andres D 33 0 4 4 35
Dominic Schimizzi F 16 2 1 3 10
Matthew Boczar F 11 1 1 2 0
Francis Boisvert G 13 0 1 1 0
Tom Gangl G 22 0 1 1 6
Trevor Ledonne D 29 0 1 1 43
Chad Veltri G 32 0 1 1 0
Michael Sochan G 2 0 0 0 0
Lee Chiang F 3 0 0 0 0
Matt Hutton F 3 0 0 0 2
Charles Merkley RW 9 0 0 0 0
Thomas Haynes D 12 0 0 0 4
Total 94 156 250 493

[8]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Michael Sochan 3 7:32 0 0 0 0 8 0 1.000 0.00
Francis Boisvert 13 537:34 3 4 0 28 349 1 .926 3.13
Chad Veltri 32 1819:58 8 21 3 105 1054 1 .909 3.46
Empty Net - 11:00 - - - 9 - - - -
Total 39 2376:04 11 25 3 142 1411 2 .909 3.59

Rankings

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Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 (Final)
USCHO.com NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
USA Hockey NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.[9]
Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

References

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  1. ^ "They're back: RMU Hockey makes triumphant return". Gazette 2.0. October 25, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  2. ^ "National 2023-24 Goaltending Leaders". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  3. ^ "2024 Robert Morris vs Bentley". FloHockey. March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  4. ^ "RMU Men's & Women's Hockey Announce Partnership with SportsNet Pittsburgh". Robert Morris Colonials. November 3, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  5. ^ "Robert Morris seeks to build $28M hockey arena". Trib Live. February 26, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  6. ^ "2023-24 RMU Men's Hockey Roster". Robert Morris Colonials. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  7. ^ "2023-24 RMU Men's Hockey Schedule". Rober Morris Colonials. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "Robert Morris Univ. 2023-2024 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  9. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.